In the reception room, I intentionally withheld the news of Hong Letao's death and directly asked, "Is Hong Letao your girlfriend?"
"Yes, she is. I haven't been able to reach her in the past couple of days and was just about to go to the restaurant to find her. Why are you here? What's going on?"
I glanced at him with my Insightful Gaze and found that he wasn't lying. I continued, "When was the last time you saw Hong Letao?"
"Two nights ago."
"Did you give her any pills recently?"
"No, but I did hear that she had some neck pain and was taking painkillers."
"Painkillers again?" I muttered to myself, puzzled.
"What?" Liao Bowen asked, confused.
I shook my head and said nothing. Suddenly, he seemed a bit nervous and asked, "Why are you asking me all these questions about Hong Letao? What happened to her?"
Seeing that I couldn't keep it from him any longer, I admitted, "Mr. Liao, I regret to inform you that your girlfriend has passed away."
"What? That's impossible! Just two days ago, I was talking to her about getting married!" Liao Bowen lost control, demanding that I take him to see her body.
I told him to calm down and promised to take him there immediately. Just moments ago, my Insightful Gaze confirmed that his reaction was genuine—filled with shock and grief—not an act. I concluded that he was unlikely to be a suspect.
As I left the reception room, Xiao Yuande approached me, but before he could speak, I shook my head and said, "It's not him."
I instructed an officer to take Liao Bowen to the morgue. Before long, we heard his anguished cries:
"Xiao Tao, how could you leave me like this? You promised to marry me!"
His wails were heartbreaking, almost piercing. We quickly moved on and returned to the criminal investigation meeting room. Despite hours of discussion, the victim's photos on the whiteboard yielded no new breakthroughs.
By evening, everyone was exhausted. We made do with instant noodles to stave off hunger. As for me, unable to stand the hunger, I decided to take a break from the case. Carrying a cup of Master Kong instant noodles, I went to the police station lobby to use the water dispenser.
But just as I reached the lobby, a loud bang erupted from one of the office desks!
I turned to see a police officer's abdomen burst open. Blood splattered across the desk, soaking the documents and the floor below. The officer slumped lifelessly in his chair, his eyes rolled back, foaming at the mouth, and staring blankly at the ceiling.
Nearby, a few female officers screamed and jumped up in fright. Even several male officers couldn't help but exclaim. The instant noodles in my hand fell to the floor.
I never expected such an explosive incident to happen within the police station itself. Together with two officers, I rushed to the victim's side and called for Zhao Simeng. Fortunately, the forensic department wasn't far, and she arrived within two minutes.
Upon seeing the body, she was momentarily stunned but quickly crouched down and asked me to put on rubber gloves to lay the body flat on the ground.
Once that was done, Zhao Simeng took out a shadowless lamp and said, "Let me check his fingerprints first."
Seeing her use the lamp, an officer asked, "Aren't you a coroner? Why use a shadowless lamp?"
"The lighting here is good enough, so the shadowless lamp suffices. I don't need the forensic umbrella. Although my forensic umbrella works too, it's more cumbersome. Who wouldn't prefer a small, portable lamp for convenience? Modern technology has its perks." She casually explained, earning admiration from the officer, who joined us in examining the body.
The deceased officer was Long Xingchen. Frankly, I hardly noticed him when he was alive. My impression of him was that he was a quiet and reserved officer who rarely interacted with colleagues but was diligent and proactive during fieldwork—a hardworking, dependable type.
Why did he die so suddenly?
After examining his fingerprints and finding nothing unusual, Zhao Simeng proceeded to check his abdomen. After some time, she said, "The ribs are fractured from the explosion. Traces of sulfur were found. It's the explosive pill again!"
"Damn it, this is the third case already, and this time it happened inside the station!" I cursed.
"Exactly. We're investigating the source of these pills but haven't made any progress," Zhao Simeng replied, her words striking like a harsh truth.
We had been tirelessly investigating the pills' origin, but to no avail. I suspected they came from some clandestine pharmaceutical company or factory. Such lethal pills would never be openly produced, making our investigation even more challenging.
At that moment, Zhao Simeng turned the body over to check the back. After some time, she concluded, "Nothing new. It's the same situation. Captain He, you should investigate Long Xingchen's connections."
I knew I had to, but would it lead to any clues? After the body was taken away, I asked Li Hong from the technical team for assistance. They worked hard and discovered that Long Xingchen's parents were deceased. Surveillance footage showed that outside of work, the only person he interacted with was an elderly woman.
This woman frequently appeared at a nursing home in Fuming City. Further investigation revealed that she was Long Xingchen's grandmother, Xi Zhixuan.
We immediately went to the nursing home in hopes of finding some leads from her.
Accompanied by Xiao Yuande, I located Xi Zhixuan with the help of the staff. Upon seeing us, she asked, "Who are you?"
"We're police officers. We have some questions for you," I said. To avoid shocking her with the truth, I had already prepared what to say beforehand.
"What's the matter? My grandson Xingchen is also a police officer!"
"Yes, we're here to ask about him."
"Well, go ahead and ask. I'll tell you whatever I know."
I asked, "Has Long Xingchen been in contact with any strangers recently?"
"No, he usually comes here after work to bring me some food. The rest of the time, I think he's working."
I figured he must have had some time off, but the elderly woman had likely overlooked it. I continued, "Do you know if he's been taking any pills recently?"
"Pills? Oh, yes. He mentioned having headaches from work stress and said he was taking painkillers."
At the mention of painkillers, Xiao Yuande and I exchanged glances, realizing the significance. Our reaction must have seemed odd because Xi Zhixuan asked, "What's going on? Xingchen should be off work soon. Don't stop me from seeing him!"
Long Xingchen was gone and would never return. But we couldn't bring ourselves to tell her the truth. Instead, we said, "He's dealing with something and might not be able to come."